Brickbats

Brickbats

Article excerpt

For Christmas, 14-year-old Niamh Baldwin shaved her hair off and donated it to the Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs for young girls with cancer. But when she returned to school after winter break, officials at Mounts Bay Academy in the U.K. said her shaved head did not conform to school rules and placed her in isolation.

A Pennsylvania court has ordered an Old Order Amish family to connect to the local sewer system. The Yoder family says the move forces them to violate their religious beliefs, since they would have to install an electric pump to move waste from their home.

Danielle Maples was at home with her family in Wichita, Kansas, when her husband threatened to hurt himself. She called 911 and police responded. The couple was outside the house, unarmed, talking to an officer when they heard shots from inside. Another officer had fired twice at their dog, which happened to be in the same small room where they'd gathered their four children. One of the bullets ricocheted, striking (but not badly injuring) the Maples' 9-year-old daughter.

Deyshia Hargrave, an English teacher in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, wanted school board members to explain why they were giving the superintendent a big raise even though teachers hadn't gotten a raise in years. Although she asked the question at a meeting where the board was scheduled to vote on the salary change, board president Anthony Fontana refused to allow answers, saying her question wasn't germane to the agenda.

The California attorney general's office has concluded that a San Diego State University lecturer harassed a student because of her race and then retaliated when she complained. An investigation found that Oscar "Ozzie" Monge, who is of American-Indian and Chicano descent, sent the student at least 15 inappropriate Facebook messages and threatened her grade after she disagreed with him about whether the school's mascot, an Aztec warrior, is offensive. …